Bond hearing set in murder case

HAZARD – A bond hearing has been in the case of a Perry County man charged with stabbing another man to death last fall.

Adrian Banks, 44, of Allais, was indicted for murder in the September 2012 death of Jerry Combs, who died from multiple stab wounds after he was found inside his home on Walker Branch Road in Allais.

Police began a search for Banks following his indictment, but authorities say he shot himself a week later. Though his injuries were serious, Banks survived the shooting and was eventually transported to the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange, Ky., where he is currently being held while receiving medical treatment.

Banks’s attorney, Brent Flowers, entered a not guilty plea during a telephone arraignment in October.

While Banks has not been cleared to travel back to Perry County, another telephone hearing was held in Perry Circuit Court on Tuesday, during which Judge William Engle was apprised of Banks’s condition and also set a date for a hearing on his bond. According to the indictment, Banks is being held on a $1 million bond. He will not be required to attend the hearing, which was set for Feb. 21.

Banks is currently scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial conference on March 27, while a jury trial is set for May 13.